While dystopian sci-fi series Westworld started off as a straightforward retelling of the original Michael Crichton-created movie of the same name, subsequent seasons have become much more complex in their narrative. When it comes to season 4, which arrived this week, star Ed Harris says this season is much easier to follow than what has come before, although that in itself doesn’t mean it will become simple.
Westworld introduced itself as a series set in a “theme park” world, where animatronic characters serve as “hosts” to help paying guests live out their fantasies in a world of danger and intrigue. Just like in Crichton’s later work Jurassic Park, things don’t go according to plan and when the robots begin to gain conscious thought, it leads to chaos as artificial intelligence becomes a self-aware being and decides to take control. Over the following seasons, the action has jumped back and forth in time, creating parallel storylines separated by years, but according to Harris, the new season will pull back on some of its intricate and complex storytelling. He told THR:
“I think season 4 is a little easier to grasp what’s happening — what the sides are, who’s trying to do what. I think it’s a little clearer than season 3, which to me, was very confusing because there were so many dimensions and it really could be anybody. That’s still the case, but it doesn’t get quite as complicated.”
Westworld is Based on Mystery Revealing Storytelling
HBO
While Harris says that season 4 of Westworld is not as hard to follow as the previous season, no one expects it to become a free-flowing, card-on-the-table show, as part of the magic of Westworld has been the way the show sets up its mysteries and then reveals its secrets further down the line. However, while season 3 continued to gain high praise, the majority of the negativity around the series related to the plot, so a little bit of adjustment can only be a good thing in the long run.
One big change that happened in season 3, was many character developments were abandoned in favor of the plot that played out over the course of the season, and that also lost a few viewers along the way. With season 4 seemingly bringing back some of the emotional and character-driven narrative that made the show a success in the first place, it looks like things are being brought back in line pretty quickly.
Season 4 once again sees the return of series regulars Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright and last season’s newcomer Aaron Paul, along with the return of James Marsden, who skipped season 3 entirely. Season 4 begins after a pretty large time jump of seven years, moving on the action from the seeming promise of war in the finale of the previous season, to a whole new story that picks things up further down the line from the revolution, when the world is facing new challenges and creating new dramas.
